A Comparative Study of Cultural Tourism Development in Iran and Turkey

2009:008
M A S T E R ' S T H E S I S
A Comparative Study of Cultural Tourism Development in Iran
and Turkey
Bahareh Pourafkari
Department of Business Administration and Social Sciences Division of Industrial marketing and e-commerce
2009:008 - ISSN: 1653-0187 - ISRN: LTU-PB-EX--09/008--SE
0
Turkey
technology
Tourism is the world’s largest industry and it was projected to be the world’s largest employer by
the year 2000. This research will evaluate Iran’s potential in the tourism industry and especially
cultural tourism development and tries to compare it with Turkey because of their regional
proximities and similarities in culture, attractions, and religion. Scientific research shows that
increasing international tourism arrivals is a way to generate more revenue than oil and
development of cultural tourism is an alternative to oil based economy.
The main goals of this research are: 1- evaluation of accelerating factors in cultural tourism
development both in Iran and Turkey 2- evaluation of decelerating factors in cultural tourism
both in Iran and Turkey. This analysis is based on information gathered through electronic data,
discussion with heritage tourism managers and stakeholder workshops. Interview with heritage
representative in Iran . Cultural Heritage Corporation provided the detail of their regional
organizational structure and how the cooperation functions. Complete description of the
corporation structure and the details of its function are presented in chapter 3..
This research has examined cultural tourism resources in Iran and compared them with that of
Turkey .After inquiry and evaluation of cultural tourism resources in both countries, we conclude
that both countries have almost the same resources with similar culture and tradition. .however,
Turkey by highlighting some ancient tradition and also by organizing lots of festivals and
providing facilities like resort hotels and good hospitality and transportation attract more tourists.
Badly-damaged infrastructures, poor condition of museums and historical sites ,are some of the
weaknesses of tourism industry in Iran.
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There are several people I would like to thank for their support and encouragement throughout
this thesis process. I would first like to thank my senior supervisor Dr mahmoud ketabi for his
help, guidance and constant belief in me. I am also indebted to Dr metin kozak for stepping in as
my advisor at the last minute. I would also like to thank him, as well as dr azizallah dabaghi , for
making my experience as a Linguistic advisor.
I would also like to acknowledge several friends who have kept me sane throughout this hard
process. I would first like to thank my dad. You are the best friend anyone could ever ask for. I
could have never done this without you.
I am also grateful for the support of my amazing family. A big thank you goes to
My dear husband for being a constant source of encouragement and advice. I am lucky to have
you. And I would especially like to thank my parents for their love and constant belief that I
could do it.
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5
III
Dedication
I dedicate this dissertation to, my lovely husband, who encouraged and prayed for me ever since
I began this research. And I would like to thank my dear parents, who instilled in me the
determination and will to meet obstacles positively. They have given me unconditional love and
support throughout my life. To my mom and dad, I love you and hope I have made you proud
.Finally I would like to thank God with all my heart that provided the strength and wisdom to
finish this research.
• 1.3.Research objective ………………………………………………………………………10
• 1.4.Research question. ………………………………………………………………………12
• 1.5Research methodology …………………………………………………………………12
• 2.1.Introduction…………………………………………………………………………… 15
• 2.2.The Tourism Industry Past and Present from Mass Tourism to Cultural Tourism…….. 16
• 2.3. A brief history of tourism…………………………………………………………… 17
• 2. 4 .. Future Growth Prospects……………………………………………………………18
• 2.6Tourism …………………………………………………………………………………..19
• 2.7Culture……………………………………………………………………………………20
• 3.1 Definition for cultural tourism by LORD Cultural Resources………………. 27
• 3.2 The Impacts of Cultural Tourism………………………………………………. 28
• 3.3 Cultural Tourism as a Passport to Peace and Understanding……………………30
• 3.4 Authenticity…………………………………………………………………….. 33
• CHAPTER THREE
• 4.4. Sector overview ………………………………………………………………………. .56
• 4.7Architecture (ruins, famous buildings, whole towns) in turkey,……………………… 63
• 4.8Art, sculpture, crafts, galleries, festivals, events in turkey……………………………. . 67
• 4.9Music and dance (classical, folk, contemporary) in turkey…………………………….. 68
• 4.10Drama (theatre, films, dramatists) in turkey…………………………………………….69
• 4.11 language and literature study, tours, events in turkey ……………………………….. 71.
• 4.12Religious festivals, pilgrimages) in turkey…………………………………………… 79
• 5.0Health tourism in turkey………………………………………………………………….81
• 5.1Cultural tourism development in Iran…………………………………………………….84
• 5.2Key trends & development in Iran ……………………………………………………….85
• 5.3Archaeological sites and museums in Iran………………………………………………..87
• 5.4Architecture (ruins, famous buildings, whole towns) in Iran…………………………….88
• 5.5Art, sculpture, crafts, galleries, festivals, events in Iran………………………………….92
• 5.6Music and dance (classical, folk, contemporary) in Iran………………………………...95
• 5.7Drama (theatre, films, dramatists)in Iran…………………………………………………96
• 5.8Language and literature study, tours, events in Iran……………………………………..98
• 5.9Religious festivals, pilgrimages) in Iran………………………………………………….98
• 6.0Health tourism in Iran……………………………………………………………………99
• 5.4 Recommendations with regard to archeological site and museum……………………..111
• 5.5 Recommendations with regard to the literature & languages…………………………..112
• 5.6Recommendations with regard to the religious festivals, pilgrimages………………….112
• 5.7 Recommendations with regard to the health tourism…………………………… …... 113
• BIBLIOGRAPHIES
INTRODUCTION 1-1 Cultural tourism development Cultural/heritage tourism is the fastest growing segment of the tourism industry because there
is a trend toward an increased specialization among tourists. This trend is evident in the rise in
the volume of tourists who seek adventure, culture, history, archaeology and interaction with
local people. Especially, nowadays people’ interest in traveling to cultural/ heritage destinations
has increased recently and is expected to continue. For example, cultural/heritage sites are
among the most preferred tourism experiences in IRAN.
Because of people’s inclination to seek out novelty, including that of traditional cultures,
heritage tourism has become a major “new” area of tourism demand, which almost all policy–
makers are now aware of and anxious to develop. Heritage tourism, as a part of the broader
category of “cultural tourism”, is now a major pillar of the nascent tourism strategy of many
countries. Cultural/heritage tourism strategies in various countries have in common that they are
a major growth area, that they can be used to boost local culture, and that they can aid the
seasonal and geographic spread of tourism. this research will evaluate Iran’s potential in the
tourism industry and especially cultural tourism development and tries to compare to turkey
because of their regional proximities and similarities in culture, attractions, and religion.
Because increasing international tourism arrivals as a way to generate more revenue than oil.
1-2 STATEMENT OF PROBLEM All countries around the world are going to find new ways to create jobs and incomes from
sources other than selling their natural mines such as oil or petroleum and … they are
concerning other ways to complete their economic needs and one of the most important of these
ways is tourism industry. Sixty percent of the population of Iran is under the age of 25, making
tourism an ideal way to generate employment (WTO, 2006). However training is an important
factor in being able to adequately attend to the needs of international guests .IRAN is also very
interested to follow the same way but because of some problems which disturbs using this
valuable industry the income of Iranian society from tourism industry is very little putting this
idea in our mind that unfortunately we are in infancy period of our tourism life. As we know Iran
has lots of historical sites and cultural attraction which is ignored for tourism attracts and in
contrast turkey with similar recourses attract millions of tourist annually. Therefore in this thesis
will try to find the successful factors of cultural tourism industry of turkey and compare that with
Iran.
Cultural/heritage tourism is a rapidly growing niche market. This market is fueled by an
increasing number of domestic and international tourists, and by the increasing availability of
global communication.
1- main goal
2- descriptive goals
main goal of the study attempts to improve social acknowledgement about their opportunity
to have investment in new occasion associated to the tourism activities and by creating new jobs
, creating the hole country to improve , also its going to :1- evaluation of accelerating factors in
cultural tourism of Iran 2- evaluation of accelerating factors in cultural tourism of turkey 3-
evaluation of decelerating factors in cultural tourism of Iran 4- evaluation of decelerating factors
of cultural tourism in turkey
Descriptive goals of this study aim to helps government associates in having a sustainable
development. And finally helps to government to understand The importance of tourism industry
in Iran. The research presented here has explored some methods and strategies that community
groups and localities can pursue to develop cultural heritage tourism opportunities
1-4 RESEARCH QUESTIONS In this research we will confronted with four questions:
1- What is the accelerating factor in cultural tourism development in IRAN?
2- What is the accelerating factor in cultural tourism development in turkey?
3- What is the decelerating factor in cultural tourism development in turkey?
4- What is the decelerating factor in cultural tourism development in IRAN?
And main question is an evaluation of strategies of Iran in cultural tourism development and
compares with turkey.
1-5 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY The report is based on information gathered through desktop research, discussion with heritage
tourism managers and stakeholder workshops. Discussions with heritage representative in Iran
cultural heritage corporation provided the detail of their regional organizational structure and
how this functioned and, tries to describe completely in chapter 3.
1-6 SIGNIFICENCE OF THE STUDY
Tourism is becoming an increasingly popular way to boost economic growth in developing
countries. On a global scale, European countries tend to dominate this sector. The demand for
tourism in the Middle East in 2006 represents 2.1% of the global share while the European
Union alone accounts for 36.6%, nearly 20 times greater (WTTC, 2006). The statistics are quire
conflicting considering that the Middle East is the cradle of civilization. Iran is a case in point,
and this research will address Iran’s potential in the tourism industry and this study looks to
increase international tourism arrivals as a way to generate more revenue than oil. In terms of
development, the tourism industry is relatively new in Iran; therefore, for purposes of this
research, some cultural and heritage aspects of Iran’s tourism will be compared to Turkey,
because of their regional proximities and similarities in culture, attractions, and religion .and
especially in Iran developments of cultural tourism is the most important parts of tourism which
government should pay attention to this valuable part of tourism.
1-7 LITERATURE REVIEW
There are several researches about these issues around the world some of them are listed
bellow:
1- Asli gruel ucer (2006) in his article in cultural tourism as tool for sustaining local values’ he
have mentioned the various aspect of cultural tourism.
2- Tianyu Yinga,_, Yongguang Zhoub had rsearched in Community, governments and external
capitals in China’s rural cultural tourism: A comparative study of two adjacent villages and
Using qualitative methods, this paper compares the experiences of tourism development in two
of China’s most famous rural cultural tourism destinations .
3-Bob Mac kercher in his article ‘Assessing the Tourism Potential of Smaller Cultural and
Heritage Attractions’ has worked on the development and application of a mechanism to assess
the tourism potential of cultural and heritage assets.
4- Lucero Morales Cano in his article CULTURAL TOURISM, THE STATE,
AND DAY OF THE DEAD has worked on Using Day of the Dead in the rural Mexican
community of Huaquechula as an example, this paper analyzes how various levels of the state, in
its roles as planner, marketer of cultural meanings, and arbiter of such practices, mediate
between cultural tourism and local identity in a global context. It shows that the results have
been met with opposition from some community groups. Although such opposition has caused
the state to rethink its strategy, it remains intent on using its new program of cultural tourism as
an alternative form of development in rural Mexico.
INTRODUCTION Most communities have some form of heritage they identify with. Heritage is a broad term
that includes ‘anything that someone wishes to conserve or collect, and to pass on to future
generations’ (Howard 2003: 6). Cultural heritage is a subset of heritage and may include both
tangible aspects, such as buildings, memorials and landscapes; and intangible aspects, such as
cultural practices, oral traditions and knowledge (McKercher & du Cros 2002; Heritage Council
of Western Australia 2005). In this report, we follow McKercher and du Cros (2002) by referring
to the individual sites and practices that constitute cultural heritage as ‘heritage assets’. Heritage
assets are those identified according to the definition of cultural heritage and represent
significant aspects of the cultural tradition of a community. Heritage assets the community
identifies with may or may not be the focus of attention for tourism activities and tourists.
However, it is important to identify the local cultural heritage within a defined region as a first
step toward developing cultural heritage tourism. Heritage assets differ from what we label
‘heritage tourism products’ as heritage tourism products refer to only those heritage
attractions that are specifically developed for and promoted to tourists.
Once local heritage is inventoried further steps need to be taken to assess its suitability for
heritage tourism development. Some heritage assets may be ‘iconic’ in nature. That is, it may be
so uniquely distinct that it will be a focus of interest in the region for large numbers of tourists.
Bundling can help create the critical mass of heritage tourism attractions necessary to motivate
visitation and retain tourists in a locality. This approach presents ‘a realistic and cost-effective
option’ for many regional communities (McKercher & du Cros 2002: 112). An effective way of
bundling is to link heritage assets together through the use of themes The purpose of this thesis is
to evaluate and determine where is the situation of cultural tourism in Iran and a comparison of
cultural tourism development in Iran and turkey. Rather than serving as a peripheral or added
attraction on a travel itinerary, culture is now considered a major catalyst for an entire travel
experience.
The Tourism Industry Past and Present from Mass Tourism to Cultural Tourism Tourism is big business. Every year millions of people, spending billions of dollars, leave
their homes and work in search of pleasure and leisure. It has become such an essential element
of everyday life in the developed world that even the thought of staying home for one's annual
vacation is considered unusual. Positioning tourism as an essential element in everyday life is a
very recent phenomenon, however. It was not until after the Second World War that tourism
exploded on a mass scale emerging as a major economic and social force in the world. It is this
dramatic growth, and subsequent changes to the tourism marketplace, that are the focus of this
first chapter.
The purpose of this chapter is twofold. On the one hand, it is meant to provide the reader with
a greater understanding of the tourism industry as a whole, while on the other, it will focus on
cultural tourism as a specific niche market. To accomplish this, the chapter will begin with an
examination of past and future trends in tourism in order to impress upon the reader the global
scope and significance of this industry. This chapter will subsequently move into a discussion of
the changes that have occurred in the tourism marketplace from the 1960s onwards, as a means
to provide the background necessary to understand the appearance of new forms of tourism,
namely cultural tourism. Attention will then turn to the emergence of cultural tourism as a
distinct market segment, complete with definitions for both cultural tourism and cultural tourists.
A brief history of tourism
Travel is as old as civilization itself, with the earliest travel resulting from nomadic
prehistoric human beings traversing great distances in search of food and favorable climates. As
centuries progressed, the motivations for travel changed as people traveled for the purpose of
trade, war, economic gain, religious conviction and study (Theobald, 1998;Gee and Fyos-Sola,
1997). Travel as we know it today, however, is a relatively recent phenomenon. Most often
referred to as tourism, the idea of leaving one's home and work in search of pleasure and leisure
is a distinctly modem occurrence. This is not to suggest that travel for pleasure did not occur in
pre-modem societies, but prior to the nineteenth century, few people outside the upper classes
had the opportunity to travel anywhere for reasons unconnected with work or business (Uny,
1990).Tourism's antecedents can be found in the nineteenth century with the arrival of the
Industrial evolution.' Industrialization resulted in profound economic and social changes that
lead to the creation of a new middle class and inexpensive modes of transportation. These
changes meant that travel and tourism was no longer the preserve of the wealthy elite (Burkart
and Medlik, 1981; Butcher, 2003; Theobald, 1998; Gee and Fyos-Sola, 1997). Said to be the
father of modern tourism, Thomas Cook was the first to take advantage of the social and
technological changes brought about by industrialization (Poon, 1993). Cook organized travel on
a scale that had not yet been seen by offering packaged tours, first domestically in England, then
to international destinations as far away as India and
Egypt. By the mid-1970s, mass tourism was well established, with approximately 158.7 million
international tourist arrivals being recorded. Tourism has continued to grow significantly in
economic and social importance, as is evidenced by the ever-increasing numbers of international
tourist arrival. By 1980 arrivals had increased to 204.8 million, and by 1990 their number was as
high as 425 million (Eadington and Smith, 1992).
Future Growth Prospects
Tourism has continued to grow, and with the support of major international associations such
as the United Nations, UNESCO, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank,
tourism has become the largest industry in the world (WTO, 2003; WTTC, 2003; Wyllie, 2000).
Despite the devastating terrorist attacks of 2001, tourism continues to grow and generate billions
of dollars in revenue. In 2002, international tourist arrivals broke the 700 million mark for the
first time, and tourism demand reached a total of US$ 4,303.26 billion (WTTC, 2004). The
World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC, 2004) predicts continued profitability, estimating
that by the end of 2004, tourism will have generated close to 215 million jobs and US$5,490.4
billion in economic activity. Further international growth is forecasted at an average rate of 4.6
per cent per annum, with the World Tourism Organization (2003) predicting that by the year
2020, international tourist arrivals will reach 1.56 billion. The importance of
tourism to individual countries and destinations does of course vary.
The growth of cultural tourism
Tourism is the world’s largest industry and it was projected to be the world’s largest employer
by the year 2000. Tourism is already one of the largest income-generating industry in turkey. As
people travel more, they do not travel aimlessly they travel to get to know a particular place in a
meaningful way. The power of cultural tourism is in its ability to satisfy this desire.
Tourism
Overall, tourism is perhaps best conceptualized as a process of co modification…